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Cher didn’t mince words when it came to revealing the ups and downs in her personal and professional relationship with Sonny Bono.
In her newly released book, Cher: The Memoir — Part One, the 78-year-old singer compared meeting Bono in November 1962 to “Maria and Tony in West Side Story,” writing that “everyone else in the room faded” after they crossed paths.
“Sonny definitely caught my attention. I was always interested in fascinating people because those were the kind of people I grew up around,” she wrote. “He was the ’60s version of my mom’s friends. It wasn’t love at first sight. I just thought this guy was special.”
In fact, the two were friends before anything turned romantic. Bono even let Cher, who was 11 years his junior, move into his house — but only because he didn’t find her “particularly attractive” at first. He was going through a divorce, and they had a strictly platonic relationship, “or perhaps more accurately a father and daughter” one, as she wrote.
Cher Through the Years: From Sonny’s Sidekick to Goddess of Pop
Obviously, things took a turn as the two kicked off a yearslong romance and business partnership. While the public thought they were married for years, the two didn’t officially tie the knot until 1969 after welcoming son Chaz in March of that year. (Cher refers to her son as his deadname throughout the book.)
Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations from Cher’s memoir about her relationship with Bono:
They Weren’t Really Married at First
Yes, Cher officially tied the knot with Bono — but years after the public thought. The couple “told everyone we’d been legally wed” in October 1964, but that wasn’t entirely true. Cher recalled that part of their “appeal” as a duo was because of their marriage.
“We didn’t create the lie, but that one also stuck for years,” she recalled.
When they eventually got legally married, it was done “quickly and privately so nobody would find out we had been faking our marriage.”
He Was Controlling About Her Clothes
Bono’s alleged temper was referenced several times throughout the chapters about their relationship. He “wouldn’t let” her wear miniskirts and dresses.
“I guess he thought they’d sexualize me too much and compromise our image or attract the attentions of other men,” she wrote. “In a strange way, his jealousy flattered me. It sounds crazy now — jealousy doesn’t mean love — but it didn’t feel that crazy at the time.”
Breaking Down His Jealousy
That was not the only time Bono’s jealousy was spoken about in the book. At one point, Cher admitted that she was “slowly having to give up” parts of herself for their relationship.
“He told me that anything a couple couldn’t do together wasn’t worth doing,” she recalled. “I wasn’t even allowed to wear perfume because he didn’t like the smell.”
Cher even compared herself to “a shadow” because of how she was treated by Bono.
Discovering Him Cheating
Cher admitted that she didn’t know Bono was cheating throughout their relationship — until she witnessed it firsthand. She recalled the “f—ing cliché” of discovering her husband with his secretary in the middle of the night.
“I could hear noises, like rustling and whispering,” she wrote. “At that point I knew something was wrong, but kept walking back toward our bedroom, when I saw the shadowy figures of Sonny helping his new assistant out the front door.”
She packed a bag and moved out of their house.
“It broke my heart, but you’ve got to give him an A for effort,” Cher wrote, noting that Bono pleaded his way back into her heart. However, he blamed the cheating on her for “not having enough sex with him.”
Hiding Their Money Problems
Bono confessed to Cher that they were “broke” after owing the IRS $270,000 in taxes.
“As someone who didn’t know my ass from first base when it came to money, I’d always felt lucky to have Sonny, believing he was both savvy and shrewd,” she wrote. “It never occurred to me that he didn’t know enough about finances and might not be the best man for the job.”
Cher and Son Elijah Blue Agree to Temporarily Suspend Conservatorship
Making the Decision to Leave
After a situation that took place following one of their Las Vegas performances, Cher decided that she and Bono were done. (She slept with one of their guitar players that same night.)
“I was still half-asleep when [Sonny] came around my side of the bed, picked up my hand, and pulled my wedding ring off my finger,” Cher wrote. “It took me a second to realize what he was doing, but I was too exhausted to care.”
Because they still had their shows, details about Cher and Bono’s split were kept out of the public eye.
Putting an End to Their Show
Cher decided that she wanted CBS to end The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour — which it did in March 1974 after four seasons.
“People were very disappointed,” she wrote. “Those who blamed me didn’t really know what it was like to be in my situation or how hard it had been.”
Their Legal Battle
Cher’s lawyers filed for divorce in 1975, citing “involuntary servitude” since Bono owned 95 percent of Cher Enterprises. At one point in the split, Bono filed for full custody of their child and accused Cher of “being an unfit mother.” This came after she brought Chaz to the Playboy Mansion to see the pet monkeys and play in the pool. (The judge eventually ruled in Cher’s favor.)
Their divorce was finalized on June 27, 1975. Bono died in 1998 at age 62 after a skiing accident.
